Patrol 4.2ltr or 3ltr diesel

Bob, in my opinion, you would be much better off to turbo and maybe intercool the 4.2. You know the vehicle, probably have it set up to suit your self and will probably be much cheaper to turbo than change over.....

Hi bobldo, my suggestion would be to keep the old war horse 4.2 add an after market turbo plus a 3 inch exhaust and a pyrometer. I have a old 98 4.2 and still going fine now i put these items on, oh yes it helps buy changing gear earlier going up hills when towing, i tow a kimberly trackmaster van and have no problems. my old girl has 334,000 on it and still goes fine,hope it helps.
cheers Jan and pete

Hi Bob
I have a 4.2 with a turbo and intercooler fitted and i tow a 23.5 ft caravan no problems . It is also alot heavier than your van. We get somewhere between 6 to 7 .5 kms per l. With the intercooler added has stopped the gear changing all the time. This changes to my 4.2 was a lot cheaper than change over and i know about my car

My experience with a 3.0 Patrol was that it was at least 1 gear worse than the Cruiser and my van wasnt as heavy as yours.

How bad does it die on hills After all on holiday its not how fast you get there its how much you see on the way..


Cheers

Mate I dont own a patrol, but I do know you presently own one of the most durable motors in a 4wd, and you want to swap it for one that has a very bad history?. Unless your present vehicle has over 500000ks stick with it.
Good luck Pete

Cheers folks folks for your input. Its seems overwhelming that I stick with the 4.2, and get an upgrade with a turbo/exhasut/EGT - thanks again, Bob.

Hi Bob,

Stick with the 4.2 over the 3lt. But have you considered a 6.7 Chev replacement. Not sure of the costs or ins and outs but I'm told they can give better fuel economy ( If driven correctly) then the turboed intercooled 4.2 with more power to boot when needed.

Cheers Wilko

Only you can know your whole senario Bob, for me I thought it was time to get in before chassis like the GU's become obsolete, but I need real reliability
and performance and got the 2010 Petrol so everything is new and tight and quiet from the belts to the brakes, power steering hoses and radiator etc.

Reliability means different things to different people, their is no way I could accept the brakes on the diesel patrols (and I don't tow) and the lack of performance I find dangerous.
Let alone driving a car these days short on airbags.

With new Patrols at sub $50,000 they are a steal but you would have to get the manual 3lt to get your bowser economy, or gas up a petrol.

However cost of ownership, not just bowser fuel price, is a different equation.
My mates 3lt hung out for 195,000km towing 3 ton but I believe my existing manual petrol 4800, over its 8 year history has proved to be of equal or lower total life cycle cost than the 4.2 turbo diesel and a lot safer along the way.

If you change your 4.2 for a 3 ltr - i will personally come to your house and scream at you ;)

This is my 02 worth.....

Vehicles all WEAR OUT. Yes your trusty 4.2 engine may last for 199999999999k km but think about the viability of the rest of the car.

Gearboxes, transfer cases, diffs, bearings of all sorts wear out. Even simple things like door hinges, door locks, electrical components, internal fittings, seats etc...ALL wear out.

I'm not a huge fan of electronics in modern 4WD vehicles, but I think I am going to have to accept them to some extent fairly soon, as it seems as if it's the way of the future.

I have last interest in trying to keep old clunkers on the road as I no longer have the interest to continually tinker and repair things that break. I accept a degree of accelerated wear on 4WD vehicles, given their intended usage and I do some mechanical things myself, but I don't really enjoy it. I'd rather be out touring somewhere.

I have the N/A 4.2 Toyota version of your engine and it is also underpowered for the vehicle, given the accessories I have bolted on and some towing duties. I have also contemplated a raft of "power-up" options, such as turbo/intercoolers etc and even engine swaps to something more powerful. But at the end of the day, the $$ that would need to be invested in the car to achieve a reliable result (reliable enough for extended outback touring) outweigh the value of the car, given its probable service life (to me). So I stick with the lack of power, promising myself to get a bit more when I upgrade to the next car.

If you can afford it....get the newer car with more power. You'll be happier in the end.

The earlier Patrols were plagued with ZD30 blowup-itis, but I am fairly certain the newer variants are more reliable.

Cheers and good luck deciding.

Mark

Cheers folks. I will do a bit more research, on both upgrading the current model and looking at putting a chip into the new 3ltr model. I did ring country 4x4 and they said a chip would increase the killa wasps from 118 to 136 - interesting. an ehaust upgrade would also help. cheers, Bob.

Putting aside the 4.2 vs 3.0 reliability discussion, there is the saftey aspect to consider. Older vehicles do not have ABS or airbags while newer ones do. Once you have had a family member saved by these devices you will never buy a vehicle again without them.

Just my 2c worth.

Cheers

Captain

If you want to get from a to b every time,stick with the 4.2...had an03 with zd30,self destructed,long story short 03 now has a trusty 4.2.